Chicago principals to control their own spending

Chicago Public Schools released budgets for individual schools to principals Wednesday and revealed a few more details on how it plans to close a budget gap of nearly $1 billion next year.

Principals for the first time will control the entire budget for their schools. In the past, spending on staff and most supplies was allocated by the district, leaving about 50 percent of the school's budget at the principal's discretion.

The district plans to trim $177 million more in operations and administrative costs, bringing to $600 million the cuts to central office spending since 2011, according to CPS spokeswoman Becky Carroll.